March 11, 2008

Council backs Scalia site for new school

Though city Councilor Mike Rimcoski said the move reminded him of "thieves in the night" sneaking through the back door, a majority of the council tonight backed the placement of a new K-8 school on the Scalia site off Barlow Street.
With the addition of Councilor Craig Minor, the council was able to muster a 4-3 vote to favor the site this time around. Just last Thursday, the council turned down the location.
More details to come.

9:25 p.m. update:
Just days after rejecting the Scalia sand pit site for a new school, the City Council reversed itself Tuesday.
Councilor Craig Minor, who joined the majority in a 4-3 vote against the site last week, said Tuesday that he changed his mind over the weekend in order to allow the controversial project to move forward.
Minor said that his own site preference, at the former grocery store site on Divinity Street, couldn’t attract enough votes. As a result, he said, he agreed to back his second choice for the 900-student, kindergarten to eighth grade school.
“It took a lot of courage” for Minor to switch sides, said Councilor Ken Cockayne, a member of the West Bristol School Building Committee that twice proposed building te new school on the Scalia “A” site.
But city Councilor Mike Rimcoski, who opposed the site, said the last-minute change “makes the entire council look like they’re thieves in the night.”
He said that unexpectedly bringing the issue up for a vote again is “the best way to sneak in the back door” with the public caught unawares.
Mayor Art Ward said the vote should have been delayed so that taxpayers would have the chance to address the council before a decision was made.
“I don’t see the urgency,” said Ward, who joined Rimcoski and Councilor Frank Nicastro in opposing the choice.
With the Scalia site now approved, the city plans next to open negotiations with the owners of the Scalia site and the former Crowley dealership next door to Greene-Hills School, which the council targeted last fall for a new school.
The Board of Educations has long-term plans to open two new K-8 schools and to close four older buildings: Memorial Boulevard Middle School and three elementary schools – O’Connell, Greene-Hills and Bingham.
Education officials want both new schools to open at the same time in order to ease the redistricting hassles and prevent logistical complications that might push up costs on the $115 million plan.
Nicastro said that “people have the right to change their mind” and he appreciates Minor’s concerns, but there is no rush to make a decision.
Nicastro said he doesn’t want to plunge ahead without some idea how much the Scalia site might cost taxpayers.
But the Real Estate Committee, which Nicastro chairs, may have a crucial role to play on the issue because it has the responsibility under the cty charter to review the negotiated deals with Crowley and Scalia. It has the capacity to vote down the deals or simply sit on them.
The city attorney, Edward Krawiecki, Jr, said the council could take up the sales anyway as long as a majority of councilors want to bring it up.
Councilor Kevin McCauley said that if the Scalia site hadn’t won approval, there is “a strong possibility” that both school sites would have fallen through.
He commended Minor for making “the right move.”
Another supporter of the site, Councilor Cliff Block, said that the issue presented “a hard decision” for Minor. He commended his colleague for changing sides, adding that Minor “was not pressured” to do it.
Minor said he didn’t see any reason to delay the decision.He said the issue has been on the table for a year and people have had many chances to speak about it.
Minor said that more delay would put “undue financial and emotional pressure” on property owners near the Divinity and Park streets site that had been eyed. He said it was important to clear away that uncertainty, as a number of residents there had requested.

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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike get a life!

Anonymous said...

Craig Minor put the city first and I am sure he will get demonized on this site but I give him credit and will not minimize his actions by criticizing the others. Many people define leadership in different ways. Craig Minor defined it for me tonight.

Anonymous said...

Courage? More like arm-twisting from the O'Brien's.

Minor is still getting his marching orders from Zoppo, who gets hers from the O'Brien's.

Congratulations Bristol on another stupid decision.

Anonymous said...

Re: 10:29 Blog

Need I remind you that Zoppo and O"Brien were for Park/Divinity Street. If you wish to argue a point, get your facts straight.

Anonymous said...

dinky see, dinky do

Anonymous said...

Plaudits to Minor!

Hopefully it will be contagious.

Anonymous said...

My understanding after reading the article on the no-vote last time was that the Scalia's claim of mining rights was cost prohibative for the city, that the piece of land would be too expensive for the city to pursue. Did something change with this issue in the past few days? This is what someone may take a hit on down the road from the taxpayers.

Anonymous said...

Craig, watch your back.

The Deputy Mayor is not a Happy Camper>

Anonymous said...

They have made a decision using a "lesser of evils" method instead of researching further for an appropriate site. This will end up being a problem in the long run and I doubt that the sale negotiations will go well.

Anonymous said...

Re the cost:

The city cannot start negotiating UNTIL a site had been selected.

It still may not work out, but now the efforts can begin in earnest.

Anonymous said...

Once again Minor confirms the A** he is. Voters are getting screwed by this man. Should we wait another week in case Minor changes his mind again?

Anonymous said...

mr minor needs to get a pair of real ones. who twisted your vote? you will never get my vote. the new schools should never be built just sucking more money out of us hard working citizens. THE WELL IS DRY!!

Anonymous said...

You miss the point, O'brien wants the 2 megaschools to be built. If they didn't settle on a site for this one, it's possible neither of the 2 megaschools would get built.

Anonymous said...

Why don't you gutless critics go away !! If it's better in another townplease go there and take Mocabe and Carlos with ya . We won't miss them.

Anonymous said...

And why did not Nicastro or Rimcoski at least make a motion to table?

Even if it was defeated, they at would have tried.

Empty talk from them, after the fact!

Anonymous said...

Ken Johnson: how do you like them apples??

Anonymous said...

Craig Minor stepped in where Ward copped out.

Glad someone did it.

I see a complete lack of leadership with Ward: he seems to feel that he is safe not supporting anything (except Rosenthal)

Anonymous said...

Ward......Moving Bristol Backward!

Anonymous said...

Could have been worse, it could have been Johnson!

Anonymous said...

Could have been better with Zoppo or Stortz

Anonymous said...

The way its going it will be Johnson

Anonymous said...

Nah, peopel are starting to see through him already.

Anonymous said...

I hope so!

Anonymous said...

Has he done anything for his $10,000????

Anonymous said...

What ten thousand??????

Anonymous said...

the $10,000 that ken johnson bilked the city out of on the street light monies.
I thought that he stopped being the owner of that company but now it shows up that he lied about that too.

Anonymous said...

Did you catch him at the council meeting where he hollered at the council for not doing their job?

He seems to have all the answers.

Anonymous said...

and he'll be the next Mayor......once the Dems get through raising our taxes to appease the unions of Bristol.

Anonymous said...

10:29

Heaven help us!!

Johnson, led by Schaffrick and who knows who else.

But then, I guess Johnson needs the job!

Anonymous said...

Wonder Why???